Somehow
I wish I could say when it happened, but I can't. I wish I could go back to the day before it happened and change things, but I can't.
That's why I write.
You see, somehow, something shifted. Maybe it was in my lifetime, or maybe the wheels started turning long before. I don't know. What I do know is that what I once knew to be true is no longer. The world as I knew it has changed.
Somehow, we went from checking on our neighbors to not saying hello at all.
Somehow, we went from holding the door for a stranger to almost knocking them over as we passed.
Somehow, we gained the ability to play a game with someone on the other side of the world, and almost simultaneously lost the ability to carry on a conversation with the person next to us in the car.
Somehow, we used to love one another; now we worry about who someone loves.
Somehow, the drunk at the end of the bar gained the ability to shout from the rooftops.
Somehow, we humans have changed. In trying to make sense of real life - the heartbreak, the disruption, the betrayal, the infamy, the beauty, and the absurdity- we have forgotten to find the joy in our existence.
We have forgotten that the sun, not an individual, is the center of the universe.
We have forgotten that our differences make us beautiful, and that our capacity for compassion, empathy, and kindness unites us.
That's why I write.
I believe that life is good.
I believe the world needs more honesty, more humanity, more kindness, and a lot less performance.
I write about real life: the beautiful parts, the brutal parts, and the messy middle places where we are trying to make sense of ourselves, each other, and the world around us. I cut through the noise, say what often goes unsaid, and aim to help us see each other and the world more clearly.
I may not have all the answers.
But I believe honesty matters. Humanity matters. Kindness matters.
I believe our stories matter. Truth matters. Common sense matters. And that humanity should never be treated like a weakness.
I believe it's our job to be better somehow.
That's why I write.
The Whine Bar is where I pour out the thoughts, stories, questions, frustrations, and small truths that come from trying to stay human in a world that often makes no sense.
